Even Gharraf’s winners appeared concerned despite its location in the relatively calm south.
“It depends on the security situation,” Katsuo Suzuki, Japex’s vice president, said when asked when the companies would begin work. “We are in contact with several security companies to discuss the security situations and analyze carefully the situation to decide our program.”
*****
“In contact with several security companies?” Interesting news out of Iraq, and it is only logical that the next step in these deals is to evaluate how to properly secure operations there. These companies want to succeed in their oil ventures, and you can bet that they will be seeking the best security companies out there that will insure that success.
That means protecting the fields, the equipment, the employees, and the executives and engineers for these projects. So you can guarantee that security will be partially coming from Iraqi companies and locals, and with a small contingent of security coming from highly skilled expats. That is my guess, and it only stands to reason.
Now one security company that might stand to benefit from this latest deal, is Oryol. It would make sense that Lukoil would use a Russian security company for protective details. I have no clue who Japex would use, and maybe some of the oil security pros out there can help to fill in the blanks. Of course there is the Oil Police down south, but companies will also want their own security that they can control and trust. Either way, good on Iraq for getting this going, and the money earned from these deals will certainly help in the reconstruction of this war torn country. –Matt
Edit: 12/14/2009- I added a newer story on top of the original, in order to add more meat to this post. Check out both of them.
—————————————————————–
Oil executives gird for work in risky Iraq
* Global firms arrive in Baghdad for oil auction
* Security still a major concern for oil work in Iraq
By Missy Ryan
BAGHDAD, Dec 14 (Reuters) – They sped into the Oil Ministry in armoured convoys, flanked by muscled guards and men in dark suits, but oil executives marked a milestone this week when they attended an oil auction outside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.
It was a measure of a broad improvement in Iraq’s security that executives from 35 global oil firms came for the ministry’s two-day bid round in downtown Baghdad, where the landscape is scarred by six years of suicide bombs and other bloody attacks.
